U.S. patent application number 13/198071 was filed with the patent office on 2013-02-07 for displaying social opportunities by location on a map.
The applicant listed for this patent is Matthew Cahill, Erick Tseng. Invention is credited to Matthew Cahill, Erick Tseng.
Application Number | 20130036165 13/198071 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46314333 |
Filed Date | 2013-02-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130036165 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Tseng; Erick ; et
al. |
February 7, 2013 |
Displaying Social Opportunities by Location on a Map
Abstract
A social networking system provides relevant content objects at
the request of social networking system users. Relevance scores are
determined for content objects by matching user location, user
interests, and other social information to the content, location,
and timing associated with content objects. A ranked list of
content objects can be provided to the user, where the content
objects are relevant to them based on their interests, location,
and other social information. The system provides a user interface
that displays a map containing pins, where each pin represents a
content object in actionable proximity to a user. The content
objects selected to be presented as pins to the user are those
content objects with sufficiently high relevance scores. Multiple
pins for a nearby area can be clustered. The user can switch
between zoom levels for the map, thereby showing pins at varying
distances from the user's current location.
Inventors: |
Tseng; Erick; (San
Francisco, CA) ; Cahill; Matthew; (Redwood City,
CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Tseng; Erick
Cahill; Matthew |
San Francisco
Redwood City |
CA
CA |
US
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
46314333 |
Appl. No.: |
13/198071 |
Filed: |
August 4, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
709/204 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0267 20130101;
G06Q 30/02 20130101; G06Q 50/01 20130101; H04W 4/21 20180201; G06Q
30/0224 20130101; G06Q 10/00 20130101; H04L 12/1859 20130101; H04L
51/32 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/204 |
International
Class: |
G06F 15/16 20060101
G06F015/16 |
Claims
1. A method for providing relevant information to a user of a
social networking system, the method comprising: maintaining social
information for the user; associating each of a plurality of
content objects with a location, a category, and a time receiving a
request for information from a user device; receiving a user
location; determining a relevance score for the content objects
based on matching the user location and social information to the
locations, categories, and times for the content objects; ranking
the content objects by their relevance scores; and providing the
ranked content objects to a notification controller for
transmission to the user device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining the social
information comprises: maintaining affinity information for the
user according to one or more categories; and maintaining a
plurality of connections between the user and other users of the
social networking system.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the relevance score
comprises: determining a location value for the content object, the
location value based on a proximity between the location associated
with the content object and the user location.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the relevance score
comprises: determining an interest value for the content object,
the interest value based on whether a category associated with the
content object is included in the one or more categories associated
with the affinity information for the user.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the relevance score
comprises: determining a time value for the content object, the
time value based on whether a current time is within the delivery
time range assigned to the content object.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the relevance score
comprises: determining a connection value for the content object,
the connection value based on a number of the user's plurality of
connections associated with the content object.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the relevance score
comprises: combining a location value, an interest value, a
connection value, and a time value to determine the relevance
score.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the time has an action associated
with it, where the action can be performed by the user.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the time is a time range that
determines whether the content object is eligible to be received by
the user.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a location of a user
device associated with the user comprises receiving the location
directly from the user device
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the location is received from
the user device at predetermined intervals.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the request received from the
user includes the user location.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing a user
exposure to a provided content object.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising adjusting the
relevance scores of the content objects based on the user exposure
to the provided content object.
15. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving indication
of an action by the user associated with a provided content object;
and storing an association between the user and the provided
content object in response to the received indication.
16. The method of claim 1, transmitting a highest ranked content
object from the ranked content objects to the user device for
display to the user.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification controller is
configured for transmitting the ranked content objects to the user
device for display to the user.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of content objects
comprises third-party content objects provided by third-parties,
and content objects formed based on interactions of users with the
social networking system.
19. A method for displaying information regarding relevant content
objects to a social networking system user, the method comprising:
transmitting from a user device at a user location a request for
information; receiving at the user device a ranked list of content
objects, each content object comprising a location, a category, a
rank, and a time, wherein the ranked list of content objects are
ranked according to a relevance score determined based on matching
the user location and a user's social information to the locations,
categories, and times for the content objects; and displaying a map
comprising a plurality of pins displaying the locations of the
content objects, wherein each pin is associated with a content
object, and each pin displays the rank of the associated content
object.
20. The method of claim 19, comprising: displaying a plurality of
selectable zoom levels that change a distance covered by the
map.
21. The method of claim 19, wherein the zoom levels are based on
fixed distances.
22. The method of claim 19, wherein the zoom levels are based on
geographical regions.
23. The method of claim 19, wherein the zoom levels are based on
relevance score thresholds.
24. The method of claim 19, comprising: displaying a group pin
representing the locations of a plurality of associated content
objects, wherein the content objects associated with the group pins
are located within a proximity of each other.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein the group pin displays the
number of content objects it is associated with.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 12/977,027, filed on Dec. 22, 2010, the content of which is
incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] This invention relates generally to social networking, and
in particular to providing relevant information for a user of a
social networking system based on user location and social
information.
[0003] Social networking systems have become prevalent in recent
years because they provide a useful environment in which users can
connect to and communicate with other users. A variety of different
types of social networking systems exist that provide mechanisms
allowing users to interact within their social networks. In this
context, a user may be an individual or any other entity, such as a
business or other non-person entity. Accordingly, while enabling
social communications among friends, a social networking system can
also be a valuable tool for businesses to engage with potential
consumers.
[0004] However, users of social networking systems traditionally
have not been able to obtain information that is relevant and
timely based on their interests, connections to others, and
particular locations. Users have not yet been able to exploit the
relationships and connections among members of a social networking
website, nor the rich user information contained therein, in a
meaningful way. Similarly, third-party content providers, such as
businesses, also have not been able to exploit social networking
systems to provide information at the appropriate time and place to
best take advantage of a potential customer's interest.
SUMMARY
[0005] To enable a social networking system to provide relevant
content objects at the request of social networking system users,
embodiments of the invention provide a mechanism for matching user
location, interests, and other social information with the content,
location, and timing associated with content objects, including
both third-party content objects and user generated content
objects. In particular, embodiments of the invention enable
relevance scores to be calculated for content objects with respect
to relevance specific to a user of the social networking system,
from which a ranked list of content objects can be provided to the
user, where the content objects are relevant to them based on their
interests, location, and other social information.
[0006] In one embodiment, the social networking system provides a
user interface on a mobile device displays a map containing pins,
where each pin represents a content object in actionable proximity
to a user (e.g., a nearby friend, deal, etc.). The content objects
selected to be presented as pins to the user are those content
objects with sufficiently high relevance scores. Multiple pins for
a nearby area can be clustered. The user can switch between zoom
levels for the map, thereby showing pins at varying distances from
the user's current location (e.g., nearby, close, and far). In one
embodiment, the zoom levels are based on the existence of relevant
content rather than being predetermined distances from the user. In
one embodiment, the system is configured to receive a request from
the user to automatically select the content object with the
highest relevance score instead of displaying the map of pins.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a network diagram of one embodiment of a system
for responding to the requests of social networking system user
regarding nearby, relevant activities.
[0008] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a social networking system, in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0009] FIG. 3 is an interaction diagram of one embodiment of a
process for responding to a request for information relevant to a
user of a social networking system based on user location and
social information.
[0010] FIG. 4 is a series of sample screenshots illustrating how a
client device may display information regarding nearby activities
relevant to a user of a social networking system responsive to the
user's request.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Overview of a Social Networking System Network
[0011] FIG. 1 is a network diagram of one embodiment of a system
for responding to the requests of social networking system user
(e.g., member) regarding nearby, relevant activities. The system
100 includes one or more user devices 110, one or more third-party
content object provider 120, the social networking system 130 and a
network 140. For purposes of illustration, the embodiment of the
system 100 shown by FIG. 1 includes a single third-party content
object provider 120 and a single user device 110. However, in other
embodiments, the system 100 may include more user devices 110
and/or more third-party content object providers 120. In certain
embodiments, the social networking system 130 is operated by the
social network provider, whereas the third-party content object
providers 120 are separate from the social networking system 130 in
that they may be operated by different entities. In various
embodiments, however, the social networking system 130 and the
third-party content object providers 120 operate in conjunction to
provide social networking services to users of the social
networking system 130. In this sense, the social networking system
130 provides a platform, or backbone, which other systems, such as
third-party content object providers 120, may use to provide social
networking services and functionalities to users across the
Internet.
[0012] A user device 110 comprises one or more computing devices
that can receive input from a user and can transmit and receive
data via the network 140. For example, the user device 110 may be a
desktop computer, a laptop computer, a smart phone, a personal
digital assistant (PDAs) or any other device including computing
functionality and data communication capabilities. The user device
110 is configured to communicate with the third-party content
object provider 120 and the social networking system 130 via the
network 140, which may comprise any combination of local area
and/or wide area networks, using both wired and wireless
communication systems. In one embodiment, the user device 110
displays content from the third-party content object provider 120
and/or from the social networking system 130.
[0013] The third-party content object provider 120 comprises one or
more sources of content objects, which are communicated to the user
device 110 at appropriate times. In one embodiment, the third-party
content object provider 120 is a separate entity from the social
networking system 130. For example, the third-party content object
provider 120 is associated with a first domain while the social
networking system 130 is associated with a separate social
networking domain. In various embodiments, the third-party content
object provider 120 is located on a website or alternatively a
server, separate or in conjunction from the website or server that
hosts the social networking system 130.
[0014] The third-party content objects, as the term is used herein,
include any content object generated by a third-party content
object provider 120 rather than by a user of the social networking
system 130. Content objects generally may include information
regarding things or activities of interest to the user. Third-party
content objects include informational content objects, such as
movie show times, movie reviews, restaurant reviews, restaurant
menus, product information and reviews, etc., as well as incentive
content objects, such as coupons, discount tickets, gift
certificates, etc. according to one embodiment. In addition, some
third-party content objects may include a combination of
information and incentives. Other examples of content objects
include event content objects associated with an event (e.g., a New
Year's Eve party) or ad-hoc gathering objects (e.g., an impromptu
gathering of 100 people in Union Square, San Francisco). Examples
of content objects and the ways in which content objects may be
presented or used are described below.
[0015] The social networking system 130 comprises one or more
computing devices storing a social network, or a social graph,
comprising a plurality of users and providing users of the social
network with the ability to communicate and interact with other
users of the social network. According to various embodiments, the
social networking system 130 may comprise a website, or
alternatively a server that can be accessed through a wired or
wireless network 140 by user devices 110 or third-party content
object providers 120. In use, users join the social networking
system 130 and then add connections (i.e., relationships) to a
number of other users of the social networking system 130 to whom
they desire to be connected. As used herein, the term "friend"
refers to any other user of the social networking system 130 to
whom a user has formed a connection, association, or relationship
via the social networking system 130. Connections may be added
explicitly by a user or may be automatically created by the social
networking systems 130 based on common characteristics of the users
(e.g., users who are alumni of the same educational institution).
For example, a first user specifically selects a particular other
user to be a friend. Connections in the social networking system
130 are usually in both directions, but need not be, so the terms
"user" and "friend" depend on the frame of reference. Connections
between users of the social networking system 130 are usually
bilateral, or "mutual," but connections may also be unilateral, or
"one-way." For example, if Bob and Joe are both users of the social
networking system 130 and connected to each other, Bob and Joe are
each other's connections. If, on the other hand, Bob wishes to
connect to Joe to view data communicated to the social networking
system by Joe but Joe does not wish to form a mutual connection, a
unilateral connection may be established. The connection between
users may be a direct connection; however, some embodiments of a
social networking system allow the connection to be indirect via
one or more levels of connections or degrees or separation. Using a
social graph, therefore, a social networking system may keep track
of many different types of objects and the interactions and
connections among those objects, thereby maintaining an extremely
rich store of socially relevant information.
[0016] In addition to establishing and maintaining connections
between users and allowing interactions between users, the social
networking system 130 provides users with the ability to take
actions on various types of items, or objects, supported by the
social networking system 130. These items may include groups or
networks (where "networks" here refer not to physical communication
networks, but rather social networks of people, entities, and
concepts) to which users of the social networking system may
belong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be
interested, computer-based applications that a user may use via the
social networking system 130, transactions that allow users to buy
or sell items via the service, and interactions with advertisements
that a user may perform on or off the social networking system.
[0017] These are just a few examples of the items upon which a user
may act on a social networking system, and many others are
possible. A user may interact with anything that is capable of
being represented in the social networking system 130 or by an
external system of the third-party content object provider 120,
which is separate from the social networking system 130 and coupled
to the social networking system 130 via a network 140.
[0018] The social networking system 130 is also capable of linking
a variety of entities. For example, the social networking system
130 enables users to interact with each other as well as receive
content from third-party content object providers 120 or other
entities, or to allow users to interact with these entities through
an API or other communication channels.
[0019] The social networking system 130 also includes
user-generated content objects, which enhances a user's
interactions with the social networking system 130. User-generated
content may include anything a user can add, upload, send, or
"post," to the social networking system 130. For example, a user
communicates posts to the social networking system 130 from a user
device 110. Posts may include data such as status updates or other
textual data, location information, photos, videos, links, music or
other similar data and/or media. Content may also be added to the
social networking system 130 by a third-party through a
"communication channel," such as a newsfeed or stream.
[0020] Content objects, generally, represent single pieces of
content that are represented as objects in the social networking
system 130. In this way, users of the social networking system 130
are encouraged to communicate with each other by posting text and
content objects of various types through various communication
channels, increasing the interaction of users with each other and
increasing the frequency with which users interact with the social
networking system 130.
Social Networking System Architecture
[0021] FIG. 2 is a diagram of one embodiment of a social networking
system 130. The embodiment of a social networking system 130 shown
by FIG. 2 includes a web server 210, an action logger 215, an API
request server 220, a relevance and ranking engine 225, a content
object classifier 260, a notification controller 265, an action log
230, a third-party content object exposure log 270, an inference
module 275, an authorization server 235, a search module 280, an ad
targeting module 285, a user interface module 290, a user profile
store 240, a connection store 245, a third-party content store 250,
and a location store 255. In other embodiments, the social
networking system 130 may include additional, fewer, or different
modules for various applications. Conventional components such as
network interfaces, security mechanisms, load balancers, failover
servers, management and network operations consoles, and the like
are not shown so as to not obscure the details of the system.
[0022] As described above in conjunction with FIG. 1, the social
networking system 130 comprises a computing system that allows
users to communicate or otherwise interact with each other and
access content as described herein. The social networking system
130 stores user profiles describing the users of a social network
in a user profile store 240. The user profiles include biographic,
demographic, and other types of descriptive information, such as
work experience, educational history, hobbies or preferences,
interests, location, and the like. For example, the user profile
store 240 contains data structures with fields suitable for
describing a user's profile. When a new object of a particular type
is created, the social networking system 130 initializes a new data
structure, i.e., a "node" of the corresponding type, assigns a
unique object identifier to it, and begins to add data to the
object as needed. This might occur, for example, when a user
becomes a user of the social networking system 130, the social
networking system 130 generates a new instance of a user profile in
the user profile store 240, assigns a unique identifier to the user
profile, and begins to populate the fields of the user profile with
information provided by the user.
[0023] In addition, the user profile store 240 may include data
structures suitable for describing a user's demographic data,
behavioral data, and other social data. Demographic data typically
includes data about the user, such as age, gender, location, etc.,
e.g., as included in the user's profile. Behavioral data typically
includes information about the user's activities within the social
networking system 130, such as specific actions (posts, likes,
comments, etc.), activity levels, usage statistics, etc. Other
social data comprises information about the user from within the
social networking system 130 that is not strictly demographic or
behavioral, such as interests or affinities, etc. In one
embodiment, user's interests may be explicitly specified in the
user's profile or interests that may be inferred from the user's
activities in the social networking system (e.g., uploaded content,
postings, reading of messages, etc). Additionally, the user profile
store 240 includes logic for maintaining user interest information
for users according to one or more categories. Categories may be
general or specific, e.g., if a user "likes" an article about a
brand of shoes the category may be the brand, or the general
category of "shoes" or "clothing." Multiple categories may apply to
a single user interest. In addition, the user profile store 240 may
be accessed by other aspects of the social networking system
130.
[0024] For example, the user profile store 240 includes logic for
maintaining interest information for users according to one or more
categories. Categories may be general or specific, e.g., if a user
"likes" an article about a brand of shoes the category may be the
brand, or the general category of "shoes" or "clothing." Multiple
categories may apply to a single user interest. In addition, the
user profile store 240 may be accessed by other aspects of the
social networking system 130.
[0025] The social networking system 130 further stores data
describing one or more connections between different users in a
user connection store 245. The connection information may indicate
users who have similar or common work experience, group
memberships, hobbies, educational history, or are in any way
related or share common attributes. Additionally, the social
networking system 130 includes user-defined connections between
different users, allowing users to specify their relationships with
other users. For example, user-defined connections allow users to
generate relationships with other users that parallel the users'
real-life relationships, such as friends, co-workers, partners, and
so forth. Users may select from predefined types of connections, or
define their own connection types as needed. The connection store
245 includes data structures suitable for describing a user's
connections to other users, connections to third-party content
object providers 120, or connections to other entities. The
connection stores 245 may also associate a connection type with a
user's connections, which may be used in conjunction with the
user's privacy setting, to regulate access to information about the
user. In addition, the connection store 245 may be accessed by
other aspects of the social networking system 130.
[0026] The web server 210 links the social networking system to one
or more user devices 110 and/or one or more third-party content
object providers 120 via the network 140. The web server 210 serves
web pages, as well as other web-related content, such as Java,
Flash, XML, and so forth. The web server 210 may include a mail
server or other messaging functionality for receiving and routing
messages between the social networking system 130 and one or more
user devices 110. The messages can be instant messages, queued
messages (e.g., email), text and SMS messages, or any other
suitable messaging format.
[0027] The Application Programming Interface (API) request server
220 allows one or more third-party content object providers 120 to
access information from the social networking system 130 by calling
one or more APIs. The API request server 220 also may allow
third-party content object providers 120 to send information to the
social networking system by calling APIs. For example, a
third-party content object provider 120 sends an API request to the
social networking system 130 via the network 140 and the API
request server 220 receives the API request. The API request server
220 processes the request by calling an API associated with the API
request to generate an appropriate response, which the API request
server 220 communicates to the third-party content object provider
120 via the network 140.
[0028] The action logger 215 is capable of receiving communications
from the web server 210 about user actions on and/or off the social
networking system 130. The action logger 215 populates the action
log 230 with information about user actions, allowing the social
networking system 130 to track or monitor various actions taken by
its users within the social networking system 130 and outside of
the social networking system 130. Any action that a particular user
takes with respect to another user is associated with each user's
profile, through information maintained in the action log 230 or in
a similar database or other data repository. Examples of actions
taken by a user within the social network 130 that are identified
and stored may include, for example, adding a connection to another
user, sending a message to another user, reading a message from
another user, viewing content associated with another user,
attending an event posted by another user or other actions
interacting with another user. When a user takes an action within
the social networking system 130, the action is recorded in the
action log 230. In one embodiment, the social networking system
maintains the action log 230 as a database of entries. When an
action is taken within the social networking system 130, an entry
for the action is added to the action log 230. The relevance and
ranking engine 225 includes logic for calculating a relevance score
for content objects (including both user-generated content objects
and third-party content objects) relative to a user, for ranking
the content objects by their relevance scores, and for selecting
content objects for sending to users as notifications or as
responses to user requests. To calculate the relevance score, the
relevance and ranking engine 225 determines a location value by
comparing the content object location and a current location for
the user device 210, determines an interest value based on whether
the content object categories are included in the user's interests,
determines a time value based on whether the current time is within
the delivery time range for the content object, and determines a
connection value based on how many of the user's connections are
associated with the content object. Then, the relevance and ranking
engine 225 combines the location value, interest value, connection
value, and time value to determine the relevance score for the
content object with respect to the user. In one embodiment the
values are higher for a better fit (closer proximity, great
similarity, etc.) and approach a value of one, and are multiplied
together to yield the relevance score. From the relevance scores
for each content object, the relevance and ranking engine 225 ranks
the content objects for a user, e.g., from highest relevance score
to lowest. The relevance and ranking engine 225 then can select
content objects to send to a notification controller 265, or can
serve the highest ranked content object directly to the user device
110 as a notification(s).
[0029] The content object classifier 260 includes logic for
assigning each of the content objects a location, a category, and a
delivery time range. Categories may reflect various categories of
user interests, and may be associated with the interests
themselves, e.g., a user "likes" an article about a brand of shoes
and the category is the brand, or the article about the shoe brand
is assigned a general category of "shoes" or "clothing." Multiple
categories may apply to a single content object. General or
specific locations may be assigned to content objects as well,
e.g., a city, a particular street name or intersection, or GPS
coordinates. A delivery time range is assigned to each content
object, e.g., using a useful range based on the hours the
associated business is open.
[0030] Additionally, user actions may be associated with exposure
to third-party content objects from one or more third-party content
object providers 120. Thus, in conjunction with the action log 230,
a third-party content object log 270 is maintained of user
exposures to such objects and when the last exposure occurred. The
action logger 215 receives data describing a user's interaction
with an object and stores it to the third-party content object log
270. The third-party content object log 270 includes logic for
storing user exposures to third-party content objects and
associations between users and objects. The exposure information
can be used to determine whether to expose the user to the same or
similar content objects, and for adjusting the ranking and
selection of content objects on the basis of whether the user
previously has been exposed to the same or similar content object.
In addition, if a user becomes associated with a content object via
an action, e.g., uses an incentive, goes to the location, etc.,
that information also is stored, and can be used for re-ranking and
re-selecting the content objects.
[0031] The notification controller 265 provides information
regarding content objects to the user device 110. Information may
be pushed to the user device 110 as notifications, or information
may be pulled to the user device responsive to a request received
from the user device 110. In the push circumstance, notifications
of content objects are initially pushed according to a default
rate. Based on user engagement with the notifications, the
notification controller 265 may adjust the rate in which
notifications are provided to the user device 110. By adjusting the
initial settings, the notification controller 265 provides
notifications of content objects to the user device 110 when the
user is more likely to engage with the notifications. Information
may be pulled to the user device at any time. Additionally, the
type of content that is provided to the client device 110 may be
updated based on the user engagement.
[0032] The authorization server 235 enforces one or more privacy
settings of the users of the social networking system 130. A
privacy setting of a user determines how particular information
associated with a user can be shared. The privacy setting comprises
the specification of particular information associated with a user
and the specification of the entity or entities with whom the
information can be shared. Examples of entities with which
information can be shared may include other users, applications,
external websites or any entity that can potentially access the
information. The information that can be shared by a user comprises
user profile information like profile photo, phone numbers
associated with the user, user's connections, actions taken by the
user such as adding a connection, changing user profile information
and the like.
[0033] The useful social information that is tracked and maintained
by a social networking system can be thought of in terms of a
"social graph," which includes a plurality of nodes that are
interconnected by a plurality of edges. Each node in the social
graph may represent something that can act on and/or be acted upon
by another node. Common examples of nodes include users, non-person
entities, content objects, groups, events, messages, concepts, and
any other things that can be represented by an object in a social
networking system. An edge between two nodes in the social graph
represents a particular kind of connection between the two nodes,
which may result from an action that was performed by one of the
nodes on the other node.
[0034] The social networking system 130 may receive a request to
associate the web content with a node in the social networking
system 130. An external website (e.g., of the third party content
object provider 130) incorporates a tag into the markup language
document for the web page(s) of the web content to claim ownership
of the pages/domain in the context of the social networking system
130. In some cases, an entire domain or collection of web pages is
associated with a unique identifier that associates the web pages
with a node. Once established, the social networking system 130
tracks data associated with the node in the action log 230.
[0035] Data stored in the connection store 245, the user profile
store 240 and the action log 230 allows the social networking
system 120 to generate a social graph that uses nodes to identify
various objects and edges connecting nodes to identify
relationships between different objects. An edge between two nodes
in the social graph represents a particular kind of connection
between the two nodes, which may result from an action that was
performed by one of the nodes on the other node.
[0036] The third-party content object store 250 stores content
objects received from third parties. The third-party content
objects include informational content objects, such as movie show
times, restaurant menus, etc., as well as incentive content
objects, such as coupons, discount tickets, gift certificates, etc.
In addition, some third-party content objects may include a
combination of information and incentives.
[0037] The location store 255 stores location information received
from user devices 110 associated with users. The location
information used by the social networking system 130 may be
obtained directly from user devices 110, e.g., at the time a
notification is to be sent or at various predetermined time
intervals, or the location information may be a last stored
location received from the user device 110. In addition, the
location store 255 may receive updated location information, e.g.,
in response to a change in the location of a user device 110. In
one embodiment, if an updated location is received, the updated
location is provided to the relevance and ranking engine 225 for
re-ranking and/or re-selecting the third-party content objects in
view of the updated location information.
[0038] In general, the selection or ranking of content objects may
occur at varying intervals based on several variables, such as
always at the beginning of a period during which a notification
would be served, or every X minutes during a period during which
notifications will be served, or every X minutes all the time
(e.g., so that it's ready when a search happens), only in response
to a change in location or expiration of a delivery time for a
content object, etc. Alternatively, the ranking of content objects
may occur as a result of user demand. The user may explicitly
request the ranking by submitting a request for relevant
information happening within the vicinity of the user. The request
may be received in response to user selection of a "refresh"
element included in a user application associated with the present
disclosure. The request may also be implicit. For example, upon
launching of the user application, a request may be automatically
received for the ranking.
[0039] The social networking system 130 implements context search
using a context search module 280. Context search results are
search results that are relevant to the user based on their current
location as well as their social information. In this way, the
context search results are tailored to the user's interests,
connections, and location at the time of the search. The context
search module 280 incorporates location information, search results
and relevance score information obtained from the relevance and
ranking engine 225 in order to provide a ranked list of search
results and/or for selection of third-party content objects as the
basis for serving notifications.
[0040] The ad pricing module 285 combines social information, the
current time, and location information to provide relevant
advertisements, in the form of notifications, to a user.
Advertisements of increased relevance to a user are more likely to
result in a purchase. Dividing consumers according to their
interests based on social information allows merchants to calculate
the value of their potential customers. Advertisements provided
through the social networking system 130 may be priced according to
the value of the customer to the merchant, as indicated by their
social information.
[0041] In one embodiment, the UI (or User Interface) module 290 is
configured to display a map containing pins on a user device 110,
where each pin represents a content object in actionable proximity
to a user (e.g., a nearby friend, deal, etc.). The content objects
selected to be presented as pins to the user are those content
objects with sufficiently high relevance scores. Multiple pins for
a nearby area can be clustered. The UI module 290 provides the user
with the ability to switch between zoom levels for the map, thereby
showing pins at varying distances from the user's current location
(e.g., nearby, close, and far). In one embodiment, the zoom levels
are based on the existence of relevant content rather than being
predetermined distances from the user.
[0042] In one embodiment, the UI module 290 is configured to
display a ranked list of search results on a client device 110 that
have been ranked by the context search module 280. The UI module
290 is additionally configured to generate an advertisement
dashboard for merchants advertising through the social networking
system 130. The advertisement dashboard allows merchants to control
the distribution and price they pay for their advertisements. For
both functions, the UI module is configured to generate a user
interface that a client device 110 or a third-party content object
provider (or merchant) 120 may interact with.
[0043] An inference module 275 determines overlapping interests
between users in the social networking system 130. By determining
the overlapping interests between a user and his or her friends,
the inference module 275 may identify which interests may be
imputed to the user based on the interests of the user's friends.
Thus, through the user's friends, the inference module 275 allows
the social networking system 130 to identify interests for the user
that are not explicitly indicated by the user.
[0044] The third-party content object store 250 stores content
objects received from third parties. The third-party content
objects include informational content objects, such as movie show
times, movie reviews, restaurant reviews, restaurant menus, product
information and reviews, etc., as well as incentive content
objects, such as coupons, discount tickets, gift certificates, etc.
In addition, some third-party content objects may include a
combination of information and incentives.
[0045] The location store 255 stores location information received
from user devices associated with users. The location information
used by the social networking system 130 may be obtained directly
from user devices 110, e.g., at the time a notification is to be
sent or at various predetermined time intervals, or the location
information may be a last stored location received from the user
device 110. The location information may also be obtained along
with a request from a user. In addition, the location store 255 may
receive updated location information, e.g., in response to a change
in the location of a user device 110. In one embodiment, if an
updated location is received, the updated location is provided to
the relevance and ranking engine 225 for re-ranking and or
re-selection of the content objects in view of the updated location
information.
Providing Location Based, Relevant Content Objects for a Social
Networking System User
[0046] FIG. 3 is an interaction diagram of one embodiment of a
process for responding to a request for information relevant to a
user of a social networking system based on user location and
social information.
[0047] Initially, users, via user devices 110 interact 305 with
each other via the social networking system 130 and with the social
networking system 130 directly, providing it information about the
user such as user interest and connection information. The social
networking system 130 maintains 310 the user social information
(e.g., interest and connection information for each user. For
example, the social networking system 130 may categorize the
interest information into categories.
[0048] The social networking system 130 also receives 315
third-party content objects from one or more third parties 120. The
third-party content objects may include informational content
objects, such as movie show times, movie reviews, sale information,
restaurant menus, etc., as well as incentive content objects, such
as coupons, discount tickets, gift certificates, etc. In addition,
some third-party content objects may include a combination of
information and incentives.
[0049] The social networking system 130 receives 320 a request from
a requesting user for information regarding relevant, nearby
content objects. The user request may include information about the
location of the user device 110. This information may be obtained
directly from the user device 110, e.g., at the time of the
request, at the time a notification is to be sent or at various
time intervals, or the social networking system 130 may retrieve a
last stored location for the user device 110. In addition, when a
user device 110 changes locations, the updated location information
may be provided to the social networking system 130. Alternatively,
the user may provide a location specifying a constraint on the
kinds of content objects in which they are interested.
[0050] Content objects, (including both user-generated and
third-party content objects) are assigned 325 categories,
locations, and delivery time ranges. For example, categories may be
established by the social networking system 130 that reflect
various categories of interests of users of the social networking
system 130. The categories may be associated with the interests
themselves, e.g., if a user "likes" an article about a brand of
shoes, the category may be the brand. Alternatively, the social
networking system 130 may assign the article about the shoe brand a
general category of "shoes" or "clothing." The social networking
system 130 may assign both of these categories to a single content
object; thus, multiple categories may apply to a single content
object. For example, for an incentive offering 20% off a specialty
coffee drink at a particular coffee shop, the promotion may be
assigned a category "food," type "beverage," and subtype "coffee."
These tags can be matched to categories associated with user
interests.
[0051] Locations may be assigned to content objects as well. For
example, a coupon for $2.00 off of a movie ticket at a particular
movie theater chain may apply to all theaters in the chain, or just
one theatre. A location may be general, e.g., a city, or specific,
e.g., a particular street name, or intersection, or GPS coordinate.
One or more such locations are assigned to each content object.
Finally, a delivery time range is assigned to a content object. The
range may reflect appropriate hours for the item. For example, if
the content object is a coupon for a donut store that is open only
in the morning, the range for the notification likely would
correspond to the hours during which the donut store is open, or
some other useful range related to the open hours, e.g., fifteen
minutes before opening to thirty minutes before closing.
[0052] The social networking system 130 calculates 330 a relevance
score for each content object relative to the requesting user. The
social networking system 130 uses the location, interest, time, and
connection information for the user and the content objects to
calculate the score. For example, the social networking system 130
may first calculate scores for each of these categories that are
combined to get the relevance score.
[0053] In one embodiment, for each content object the social
networking system 130 determines a location value based on the
proximity between the content object location and a current
location associated with the user device 110. The social networking
system 130 also determines an interest value based on whether the
category or categories assigned to the content object are included
in the category or categories associated with the user's interests.
The social networking system 130 also determines a time value based
on whether the current time is within the delivery time range for
the content object. For example, a discount coupon for lunch at a
restaurant may be associated with lunch hours and is accordingly of
higher interest during the hours commonly associated with lunch.
And the social networking system 130 determines a connection value
based on how many, if any, of the user's connections are associated
with the content object. For example, a connection associated with
the content object may include information or an incentive for a
business that one of the user's connections is currently at, e.g.,
a connection of the user is at the frozen yogurt store that the
incentive applies to. Then, the social networking system 130
combines the location value, interest value, connection value, and
time value to determine the relevance score for the content object
with respect to the user. In one embodiment the values are higher
for a better fit (closer proximity, great similarity, etc.) and
approach one, and are multiplied together to yield the relevance
score.
[0054] From the relevance scores of the content objects, the social
networking system 130 selects 335 the content objects for a user,
e.g., from a ranking of highest relevance score to lowest, or by
selection of the highest relevance scored items. The social
networking system 130 responds to the user's request for relevant
content objects. The content objects are provided to the user. In
one embodiment, the UI module 290 renders information regarding the
content objects, for example in the form of a map with pins. In one
embodiment, the social networking system 130 receives a request
user from a user for only a single content object. In this case,
the social networking system provides the content object with the
highest relevance score to the requesting user.
[0055] Once a user is exposed to a content object, the social
networking system 130 stores that exposure. In addition, the social
networking system 130 monitors whether the user uses an incentive
associated with the content object, goes to the location of the
information, or otherwise becomes associated with the content
object, and if so, the social networking system 130 stores that
information.
Map with Pins Illustrating Relevant, Nearby Content Objects
Requested by a User
[0056] FIG. 4 is a series of sample screenshots illustrating how a
client device 110 may display information regarding nearby
activities relevant to a user of a social networking system 130
responsive to the user's request. In FIG. 4a, a map 410 illustrates
the real world region around the requesting user. The map 410
displays a number of content objects 415 that have been determined
to be the most relevant content objects according to their
relevance scores, which are based in part on the requesting user's
location.
[0057] Content objects are presented as pins (e.g., pins A 415a, B
415b, and C 415c) based on the real world locations where the
requesting user may interact with the real world entity associated
with the content objects. For example, the content object may be a
third-party content object comprising a coupon for a free smoothie
at a smoothie store. In this example, pin 415 may represent the
location of the smoothie store where the coupon is redeemable. In
another example, pin 415 may represent the location where three of
their friends are currently located.
[0058] In some circumstances, multiple content objects presented to
the requesting user as pins 415 may be in such close proximity in
the real world, that the map 410 is unable to display the multiple
pins in a separate, independently identifiable manner. In one
embodiment, pins in close proximity are grouped into a single,
differently shaped group pin 420 that represents multiple content
objects at once. A group pin 420 may visually indicate the number
of pins 415 contained within the group pin 420. For example, group
pin 420a indicates that three separate pins are contained within
the group pin 420a.
[0059] In response to a request for information from a user, map
410 initially displays the area immediately surrounding the user.
The user, however, may change the real world area illustrated by
map 410. The user may also change the level of zoom at which the
surrounding real world area is shown. FIG. 4a further illustrates
that the requesting user is presented with multiple zoom settings
405 to allow a requesting user to switch between different zoom
levels of the surrounding environment. In the example embodiment of
FIG. 4a, the zoom levels include the immediate vicinity of the
requesting user 405a as the highest granularity zoom level, a
nearby zoom level 405b including a larger swath of the surrounding
area as compared with the immediate vicinity 405a, and a far away
zoom level 405c that covers a much larger scope than the previous
two zoom levels. FIG. 4a illustrates a map 410 displayed at the
immediate vicinity 405a zoom level.
[0060] In one embodiment, the zoom levels are based on absolute
distances from the requesting user. For example, in the immediate
vicinity 405a, the map 410 may cover one square mile, whereas the
nearby zoom level 405b covers five square miles, and the far away
zoom level 405c covers fifty square miles. In another embodiment,
zoom levels may be based in part upon the geographical location of
the users, whereby zoom levels are specified for various cities,
states, and suburban areas. For example, if the user is located in
the bay area of California, the far away zoom level 405c may be the
entire bay area rather than fixed fifty mile distance.
[0061] Map 410 is configured to display only a limited number of
pins 415 or block pins 420. The number of pins 415 or block pins
420 displayed may be determined by the social networking system 130
or the requesting user. In one embodiment, the number of pins 415
or block pins 420 is a fixed amount. In another embodiment, the
number of pins 415 or block pins 420 is based on a relevance score
threshold. Only content objects above the relevance score threshold
are displayed as part of pins 415 or block pins 420. The relevance
score threshold may vary depending upon the zoom level. For
example, at a immediate vicinity zoom level 405a, there may be
comparatively few content objects that are present to provide to
the requesting user, and thus the relevance score threshold for
this zoom level may be lower. In contrast, at a far away zoom level
405c, there may be many more content objects as compared to the
immediate vicinity zoom level 405a case, and as a result the
relevance score threshold for this zoom level may be higher. Thus,
a requesting user changing from a smaller zoom level to a larger
zoom level may reflect the user's interest in receiving information
about more relevant content objects, despite the fact that they are
further away from the requesting user's present location. Adjusting
the relevance score threshold based on zoom level ensures that the
user is always presented with a sufficient, but not excessive,
number of pins 415 and block pins 420 to interact with.
[0062] FIG. 4b illustrates the map 410 at the nearby zoom level
405b. In the example embodiment of FIG. 4b, group pin 420b
indicates that it includes six pins, for example group pin 420a and
pins 420a, 420b, and 420c, along with three others that were not
present in map 410 as displayed in FIG. 4a. FIG. 4b further
includes two new pins 415d, and 415e.
[0063] FIG. 4c illustrates the map 410 at the far away zoom level
405c. Group pins 420d and 420c include ten and five pins,
respectively. Pins 415g and 415f represent individual content
objects that are sufficiently far from other pins to be displayed
separately from group pins, despite the area covered by map
410.
[0064] FIG. 4d illustrates a user interface presenting a requesting
user with more information about a selected content object 445
illustrated by a pin 415a. In one embodiment, map 410 still
presents the selected pin, however the map has been reduced in size
with respect to the total screen area of the user device 110. The
user interface presents information about the selected content
object 445. The presented information may include, for example, the
users of the social networking system 130 who have indicated
affinity for the content object who are also connected to the
requesting user through the social networking system, comments on
the content object made by users connected with the requesting user
through the social networking system, and/or a list of users
connected with the requesting user through the social networking
system who are currently present at the real-world location
associated with the content object.
SUMMARY
[0065] The foregoing description of the embodiments of the
invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration; it is
not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the
precise forms disclosed. Persons skilled in the relevant art can
appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in
light of the above disclosure.
[0066] Some portions of this description describe the embodiments
of the invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic
representations of operations on information. These algorithmic
descriptions and representations are commonly used by those skilled
in the data processing arts to convey the substance of their work
effectively to others skilled in the art. These operations, while
described functionally, computationally, or logically, are
understood to be implemented by computer programs or equivalent
electrical circuits, microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has
also proven convenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of
operations as modules, without loss of generality. The described
operations and their associated modules may be embodied in
software, firmware, hardware, or any combinations thereof.
[0067] Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein
may be performed or implemented with one or more hardware or
software modules, alone or in combination with other devices. In
one embodiment, a software module is implemented with a computer
program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable
medium containing computer program code, which can be executed by a
computer processor for performing any or all of the steps,
operations, or processes described.
[0068] Embodiments of the invention may also relate to an apparatus
for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be
specially constructed for the required purposes, and/or it may
comprise a general-purpose computing device selectively activated
or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such
a computer program may be stored in a non-transitory, tangible
computer readable storage medium, or any type of media suitable for
storing electronic instructions, which may be coupled to a computer
system bus. Furthermore, any computing systems referred to in the
specification may include a single processor or may be
architectures employing multiple processor designs for increased
computing capability.
[0069] Embodiments of the invention may also relate to a product
that is produced by a computing process described herein. Such a
product may comprise information resulting from a computing
process, where the information is stored on a non-transitory,
tangible computer readable storage medium and may include any
embodiment of a computer program product or other data combination
described herein.
[0070] Finally, the language used in the specification has been
principally selected for readability and instructional purposes,
and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the
inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope
of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but
rather by any claims that issue on an application based hereon.
Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the invention is
intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the
invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
* * * * *